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Re: At a loss as to what to do!

Well, with extreme oversupply the baby often doesn't have to work very hard to get a letdown going. Just a couple of light sucks and boom! But you do make a good point, and I think you are probably right that your baby is able to suck well enough to maintain/increase supply when necessary. I just wanted to put the one scary possibility out there, just in case you try the BCP route and then have trouble afterwards.

Re: At a loss as to what to do!

She definitely has a very strong suck, but do wonder whether her tongue does not control the flow very well! I don't know what to do for the best! The ladies that spray on letdown, can your babies cope with it? What age did they start to be able to cope and what stage did those of you with OS/OALD find that your supply calmed down? If an improvement is likely to be imenant, then I'll wait it out but can't go on for too much longer like this. With my 1st child, things started to improve just before 6 months, those of you with OS/OALD and 2 children, did supply calm down at same time with both children? Just want to have as much info as poss before making a decision that I could regret. Thanks lots everyone!

Re: At a loss as to what to do!

I only have one kid. The OALD never really calmed down until after the year point. My child was able to cope very early. He was a clicker as an infant. That is where a baby dealing with OALD latches low specifically so they can control the spray by blocking with their tongue. He made a very loud clicking noise from about 2 weeks in until about 4 and a half months. He only choked and sputtered the 1st few weeks and even then it didn't bother him or make him want to quit eating. By 2months he was clicking and popping off. Take a few sips, anticipate let down so pop off and stare at the boob. Move in for a couple more sucks pop off and look at the boob. He was trying to avoid being ovewhelmed by strong let down. But even at 8 months if he moved off the boob during letdown to play peek a boo or laugh milk would shoot into his face or hair or across the room. The bigger he got the better he dealt. By 6 months I think he had stopped clicking and popping off. He's just eat. But I have seen lots of babies here that didn't cope as well. A lot of that is just personality. More sensitive kids can get really upset about fast letdown. And I think that a lot of mom do what you do only to a lesser degree. Meaning if normally a mother would very fast let down would let down into a towel to get her baby to the point where they could comfortably drink, and you are saying you have to pump or squeeze milk for minutes for it to get to the point where she can deal with it. Is her temperament better about it if you feed her when she is not really hungry? Could you get her to graze?

Re: At a loss as to what to do!

I had pretty nasty OALD too (but did not deal with anything near so intense as what you've described). I would still spray on occasion at 15 months, but don't seem to spray anymore now at close to 18 months.

My baby choked, sputtered, clicked, and gulped until about 3 months, but he wasn't entirely comfortable with it until 5-6 months. After that he would still gulp his milk, but he did not have any problems with it.

Re: At a loss as to what to do!

With my first, I had OALD and OS for months and months. Second, it went away faster, probably around 6-7 months. Third, fastest yet...but I had learned to not mess with things early, didn't touch a pump at all, etc.

Re: At a loss as to what to do!

We're at almost 6 months now, and I have OALD and maybe a slight OS. Every time I nurse, the other side gets all excited and fills up and sprays, despite only ever using one side per nursing. I gave up on bigger blocks when the OALD just got worse. DS copes by laughing at the spray and getting himself drenched (no NIP for me), when he was younger he'd panic. Sometimes he still chokes and sputters, but not every single time, now. I do everything lying back or down, and it's the only way I can get him nurse and not to just fight me. And even so, sometimes he'll fight me, bite me, and put in his thumb I guess those are the times he's just looking for comfort and not food.